The History of Korea
A country with a unique civilization, abundant cultural
heritage, and a unique modern history.
Early man first inhabited the Korean Peninsula
roughly half a million years ago. Gojoseon, the first national
entity on the Korean peninsula, was founded during the
15th-10th centuries B.C., after which the
Three Kingdoms, Unified Shilla, Goryo, and Chosun Dynasty were
established and ruled over the Korean peninsula and a part of
Manchuria.
Ancient Koreans developed into an ethically
homogeneous group with highly sophisticated state organisations
characterised by rice cultivation, Buddhism, and Confucianism.
Although Korea was
often called ‘The Land of Morning Calm,’ it used to be exposed to
frequent foreign aggression due to its geographical proximity to
such powerful neighbour as China, Japan, and Russia. However, Korea
had maintained its political and cultural independence from the
outside until it was annexed by Japan in 1906.
Under coercive Japanese rule, many Koreans
including social leaders and female activists, fought endlessly for
their identity and independence, until they won their liberation in
1945. Despite all Koreans’ aspiration for a unified nation,
however, liberated Korea was divided into the democratic South and
the communist North, due to the geopolitical situation and the Cold
War.
Being the only divided nation in the world
makes Korea very unique. But the current inter-Korean relationship
is far from a hostile confrontation. A series of inter-Korean
summits and Koreans’ desire to reunite with their families have
turned five decades of confrontation and hostility into ties of
reconciliation and cooperation.
Dialogue has opened up in various areas, and
just as East and West Germany started economic cooperation before
they broke down the Berlin Wall, South Korea has been stepping up
its efforts to improve North Korea’s impoverished economy. Although
North Korea’s test firing of nuclear missiles in October 2006
raised tensions again on the Peninsula, South Korea is seeking a
peaceful resolution with the international community on this
issue.